Wenger confirms Cazorla out for ‘a few weeks’

Arsene Wenger has revealed that Santi Cazorla is set for a period on the sidelines having missed today’s 3-1 win over Sunderland.

The Spaniard was ever-present in the Premier League for the Gunners last season, but after the match the manager told the press, “Cazorla has an ankle problem. He will be out for a few weeks as well. I don’t think he will play before the next international break.”

The next international break, for reference, is on the 6th of October and Arsenal have 6 games before that. It’s a real blow, but one somewhat offset by the presence of Mesut Ozil.

Wenger also admitted his fear that Olivier Giroud’s knee injury may prove more serious than we’d like.

“That’s my worry today after the game,” he said. “We are very thin at the moment. It isa knee problem. He is the player at the moment that would be very difficult for us to replace.”

Let’s keep fingers crossed over Ollie and hope Santi can get back to fitness sooner rather than later.

On the plus side though, we’re on a great little run (Villa aside I think the team has really come together this last 12-18 months).
The fact is… we almost have a starting XI of injured players (Arteta, Cazorla, Podolski, Rosicky, Diaby, The OX, Mert). The good thing is they are going to start returning in waves over the next month or so..

Arteta and Mert look to be the soonest
Poldi and Caz/Rosicky next
OX and Diaby are the long term ones.

I read somewhere that AC Milan had the lowest incidence of on/off pitch injury…some Belgian druid working his spells in the back room apparently…got Maldini to play in defence for AC Milan till he was 94…can’t we sign this guy?

He’s played 180 games for club and country in 3 years. He played in all 38 epl games for Arsenal last season and was with Spain in the Confederations Crap and also the stupid international games before the start of this season and the recent international break. He has never gotten more than a two week break in all this time, I think.

We should be able to make due without him, he will be back after the next international break, after 1 full month of rest, he will be raring to go. It’s Giroud that I’m really worried about l.

Yeah they just sat there drumming their fingers didn’t they? We weren’t even linked with stirkers! Higuain, Rooney and Suarez plus Ba, Michu and Benteke. We didn’t bid, we weren’t faffed around by Real (enabling us to sign Ozil).

Giroud injury was always going to cause us problems because we don’t have adequate cover, unlike any other position. Not sure why we left Demba Ba deal so late, could have tried concluding it long ahead of the deadline – the self proclaimed special one might have let it happen before the Ozil deal!

It’s not like no one could see this coming is it. No one to blame but ourselves on this injury.
Having said that, we can cope with our midfield scoring but its far from ideal.
Onwards and upwards.
at some point our injuries will ease and hopefully the club will do the right and sensible thing and bring in another quality striker in January. No excuses.

Why we never went for Aubameyang is a mystery. Maybe Wenger was so keen on Hig and Suarez that he got blindsided. Maybe he did not want another Gervinho. Whatever the reasons, such mismanagement was bound to haunt us. I am really pleased about Ozil, but not to have any decent backup for your main striker is a very risky gamble. We may end up ruing it badly. Chelsea just lost, Man U are crap, Man city look crap. We have a wonderful opportunity to really push for the league title but not if our best players keep dropping like flies. David Villa went for £2million to Athletico. We could have considered him as a backup striker. Don’t tell me after Hig and Suarez, there were no good options. Problem is we are still reactionary when it comes to transfers. I know injuries cannot be predicted but I really hope Wenger doesn’t end up with egg on his face if Giroud is out for a while. You think Walcott will win us games playing through the middle?

once again, fifa-like mentality. we’ve Giroud. Podolski seems a natural cover. then it’s Walcott. next, Bendtner. finally, Sanogo. five guys, three of them of international pedigree and experience.

damn, we can’t bloody expect having twenty players in each position. in all probability Wenger wants a midfield that is as fluid and as interchanging as possible, which is beautiful and has already been pointed out here by a guy referencing Jol after the Fulham game, when he said that’s it’s so difficult to operate against our midfield because it’s constantly exchanging roles. at the same time, two players from that midfield can easily operate in attack – sure they’re not as good as Giroud (anyone doubting he’s good, still?), but they’re more than okay as a cover.

FIFA like mentality from our manager as well then. It was he who bid for Suarez and higuan. He clearly thought we had a need for another top qaulity striker, and its not just some of the fans.
You have every right to your opinion regarding Theo being able to play up front and I have always been a big supporter of him but a centre forward he is not.
Too simplistic to say fans expect 20 players in every position. But a striker is an obvious need. If you can’t see that then fair enough but il go with arsene on this one and he has already said that we are short in that area and the fact he tried to sign forwards is more evidence of the fact.

yes, we’re short, but we’re not desperate, and not much shorter then other teams in various departments. we can’t really complain with having Walcott as only our third forward, used just in special – and rare – situations.

Why are we buying özil they said
We have enough attacking midfielders they said
Well wilshere looked quite good at the tip of the triangle at least.
Also, how many injuries would we need before we could make an emergency loan?

Eh I think Ozil was at the tip of the triangle at CAM, Jacky was at LAM. Either way Jack did well at Sunderland. He can be better mind you, but good for him to shrug off all that dumbass criticism from the England-Ukraine game and just get on with it. I actually quite liked the Flamini-Ramsey-Ozil-Wilshere partnership. Did well having never played with each other in that formation. Good stuff.

Santi needed a rest, this injury could be fatigue and in the long run be a blessing in disguise, as he will be fresher for the later part of the season. I am gutted that we have to wait a few more weeks to see him link up with Ozil. I guess the best things come to those that wait. COYG

I don’t think that being injured — and having to undergo treatment and possible rehabilitation — qualifies as “rest”. As I’ve read time and time again, recovery and therapy can be both taxing and intense. I too hope that Santi has a quick recovery. There is a large burden that is going to fall on Ozil in the near-term.

If Akpom and Gnabry replicate their preseason form we should just about cope. The worry is though that without Cazorla teams can just man mark Ozil and we are stuffed creatively. It’s too much to ask Gnabry, Ryo, Eisfeld etc to be a genuine creative outlet. They’re just not ready for that kind of responsibility. I also worry about players like Ramsey suffering fatigue early on; they have played all our games so far and suffering a November burnout would be far from ideal. The sooner Arteta comes back the better. COYG.

Thank Dennis we play Wednesday and not Tuesday. that extra day is well needed for our team. it is almost a gamble to do any extra hard training we’re so thin but extra ice Olivier and we hope your form continues.

We are a bit thin at the moment because even Podolski, Bendtner and Sanogo are out injured. Walcott can play there, but since Rosicky and Cazorla are out too, we will have to play Miyaichi/Gnabry on the right.

Thankfully, he isn’t injured. Hopefully, he won’t be in the future either. Keep the faith. COYG.

This is what happens when a player who has played almost every game the previous season, and all the pointless friendlies for his country in South America, then gets no holiday thanks to a meaningless international competition in South America, and then barely any pre-season, is thrust straight into the new season without any rest.

We saw a similar situation with Wilshere. Let’s just hope that Santi’s injury is minor and he at least gets a much needed rest.